Vehicles, such as pickup trucks, and sports utility vehicles have long been used as transport and storage, and as a means of access for tools, materials and devices used in various professional trades and for emergency/rescue work.
Various designs of tool carriers are known in the art. Often these carriers are configured to provide a workspace, or to carry a variety of tools, or to assist in making the tools carried in a vehicle more accessible, more safely stored, or more adequately securable.
Related art includes: U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,922 to Blanchard which presents fixed mounted storage boxes which are accessible from the exterior of the truck by means of truck modifications to the vehicle sides and sidewalls; U.S. Pat. No. 8,393,665 to Villano which presents a motorized system for elevating a tool box from its riding position to an more easily accessible position at the destination site; U.S. Patent App. Pub. No. 2006/0061116 by Haaberg which presents a utility table and storage apparatus for ease of access and use and workspace at the storage site; U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,002 to Clare which presents a collapsible material carrier and hidden storage system to mask the storage capability and reduce chances of theft; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,470 to Jackson which presents space for a plurality of individual tool carriers contained within a rectangular housing shed installed in the truck.
The prior art use of the phrase “tool box” ranges from a hold in the hand box to a large storage container beyond the strength of one individual to move. The Applicant uses the phrase “tool box” or “command box” interchangeably herein, and as such identifies three entities found within the following description: (1) a tool box housing, (2) a tool box assembly, and (3) the carrying space area.
The tool box housing is a structure configured to provide one or more partitioned storage areas that may be used for storing of tools and other items, which may include electrical equipment.
The tool box assembly is defined to mean an assembly of a mounting rail system with mounting board, or equivalent, and either the tool box housing or a floorboard platform. The mounting rail system with mounting board may be configured to permit easy and interchangeable installation of either the tool box housing or the floorboard platform into the cargo area of a vehicle.
The Tool Box Assembly of the present invention is configured to be installed within the carrying space area of a vehicle, which is defined to be the volumetric area available for storage in the vehicle, which may also be referred to as its cargo area. In a Sports Utility Vehicle, for example, it would be approximated by the area behind the rear seat. In a pickup truck it would be approximated by the truck bed area.